US Senate begins vote on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"

2025-06-30 18:20:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The US Senate began voting on Monday on a massive spending plan, dubbed the "big, beautiful bill," after weeks of contentious negotiations.

Republicans - who control both houses of Congress - were divided on how much social welfare programs should be cut in order to extend tax breaks.

President Donald Trump wants Congress to pass the bill by July 4.

After the House of Representatives passed its version of the bill last month by a single vote, the legislation went to the Senate. Because of changes made by the Senate, the bill will return to the House for another vote.

On Sunday, after weeks of public discussion, the Senate decided to open debate on the budget bill with 51 votes in favor and 49 against.

Two Republicans and all Democrats voted against opening the debate, arguing for further changes to the legislation.

One of these Republicans, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, announced his withdrawal after that vote and said the legislation violated promises that Trump and Republicans made to their voters.

"Many elected officials are motivated by pure, unadulterated politics who have no regard for the people they promised to represent during the election campaign," Tillis wrote in his announcement.

The other Republican who voted against passing the bill was Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who opposed the debt increase and cuts to Medicaid, a health care program that millions of elderly, disabled and low-income Americans rely on.

There could be up to 20 hours of debate starting Monday, when senators argue for or against adding amendments to the nearly 1,000-page bill in a process called a "vote-a-rama."

Democrats are expected to use all ten of their allotted hours for debate, while Republicans are likely not to.

When the bill comes up for a full vote in the Senate — expected either late Monday night or early Tuesday morning — Republicans can only afford three departures for the bill to pass.

If three votes are lost, Vice President JD Vance will have to cast a tie-breaking vote.

The bill will then return to the House of Representatives, where leadership has advised that a full vote on the Senate bill could take place as early as Wednesday morning.

While Republicans control the House, they could lose just a handful of votes. There is frustration with the Senate version of the bill among some House Republicans, which could lead to another close vote.

Democrats in both chambers have largely opposed spending cuts and the proposed extension of tax breaks.

Meanwhile, the Republican debate has focused on how much to cut social welfare programs in order to extend Trump's $3.8 trillion (£2.8 trillion) tax cuts. The proposed cuts would deprive millions of America's poorest people of health insurance.

The version of the bill that senators will soon vote on contains tax cuts that Trump campaigned on, such as a tax deduction on Social Security benefits and the elimination of taxes on overtime and tips.

The bill also authorizes $5 trillion in new borrowing, which would add to a growing US debt burden - a move that goes against what many conservatives have argued and that angered Elon Musk, Trump's former trusted aide, earlier this summer.

The Senate version of the bill would add $3.3 trillion (£2.4 trillion) to the debt, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan federal agency.

The national debt is currently $36 trillion, according to the Treasury Department.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Congress to address the debt limit by mid-July and warned that if they don't, the US may not be able to pay its bills as early as August.